Today we’d like to introduce you to Alysse Hogan.
Alysse, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been into food. But it’s never been just about eating food for me because to me, food represents so much more. Food represents culture and inspired much of my travels, food represents family and close friends, and yet food also represents adventure and exploration for me. I remember being younger like in elementary school and being infatuated with the homemade lunches from one of the Asian girls in my class. She always had food in her lunch that I had never seen before but always wanted to try. I used to try to offer food from my lunch to trade with her but she would frequently decline, and I don’t blame her. My elementary school lunch days are one of the earliest memories I have of being intrigued by food and how different it was based on someone’s culture and background. Ever since then, my intrigue with food only continued to grow. My passion for culture and the food so often associated with it, took me to Asia to teach English abroad. I traveled all throughout Asia during my time there and was able to try so many different kinds of foods, flavors, and cuisines and I loved every bit of it. After my time in Asia, I moved back to Southern California for graduate school before eventually landing a job in San Diego.
I moved to San Diego almost three years ago and didn’t know a soul when I got here. I did A LOT of solo exploring when I first got here, which included many solo food adventures. I quickly realized that not only is San Diego an incredible city in its own right, the options for delicious food are almost endless. I initially did a lot of searching and exploring via reviews on Yelp, Google, and even Pinterest. I got so into “researching” the places I wanted to eat at before eating there, that I probably got to a point where I was easily spending 20-30 minutes looking into everything from menus, to distance, to the interior decor, to the photos of the food, it was nuts. What’s crazy is that I loved every bit of the “research” I was doing like it was honestly SO much fun to me; to learn all about a restaurant, cafe, or coffee shop before I actually visited it for the first time. To be honest, it essentially became somewhat of a hobby for me. I had finally reached the conclusion that it was time for me to devote more intentional energy into this food-finding/food exploration passion of mine, and after talking it over with some close friends and family, I decided to create an Instagram account solely dedicated to my food finds around the city, and eventually, beyond. With the help of my very creative momma, I finally landed on an Instagram handle that incorporates the initials in my name but still holds the true essence of what this page was about-food. I landed on @i__amhungry as my Instagram handle and in true San Diego fashion, I posted my first picture of some tacos on taco Tuesday back in February of 2018. Since then, I basically haven’t looked back. God has blessed me with some incredible and solid friendships since being in San Diego, but my foodie exploring hasn’t stopped if anything it’s only continued to blossom. I’m the friend that typically picks out the places to eat and yes, I still spend a solid 15-20 minutes doing my “research” before deciding on a place to go. After being in San Diego now for about three years, I’m more familiar with the city and definitely have some go-to food spots in my back pocket. I’ve come to learn a lot about the “foodie influencer” world via social media, but to be honest, I do it far less for the notoriety and far more for the memory marker/time stamp of where I’ve been blessed to explore, who I’ve been blessed to dine with, and of course, all of the delicious foods I’ve been so fortunate to taste and eat.
Has it been a smooth road?
It most definitely hasn’t been a smooth road for a variety of reasons. Firstly, just like most women, I struggle with body image issues. I’ve struggled with body image issues ever since I was a young girl. I loved food just as much when I was younger as I do now, but I was a chunky Lil thing and didn’t necessarily love being active so it was a struggle to be able to enjoy food the way I feel like I’m able to a little bit more now that I’m more educated on healthy habits. Nevertheless, I still struggle with finding balance between fulfilling all my foodie dreams and also making sure that I’m building healthy habits for myself. I’ve by no means mastered the balancing act, but as a woman, I am committed to continuing to learn to love myself a little more every day.
Learning to love myself also included not comparing myself to other people on social media. This surprisingly has been a huge struggle for me, specifically when it comes to comparing myself to other foodie accounts on Instagram. Social Media obviously has pros and cons but one of the major cons is the incessant, oftentimes, subconscious comparison that occurs. I made my foodie account for me, but it’s so hard not to get caught up in the followers, and the likes, and the levels of “engagement” you are or aren’t getting on your page. It’s especially hard when you discover just how many foodie accounts are out there and feeling like you’re a tiny fish in a very large pond, full of very similar-looking fish. I was honestly, very discouraged when I first started my foodie account because I felt like there were a billion other accounts just like mine, so why should I even attempt to compete. But after taking some time out for reflection, I was able to come back to my why. I came back to my why in remembering why I had started this page in the first place and how it was never about competing and how it’s legitimately become a passion of mine to explore different food spots throughout the city and share those explorations with others. My why had nothing to do with what other people were doing or posting or how many followers they did or didn’t have, and therefore should not be a factor in my motivation for putting out content that I like and makes me happy.
But I will say, there have been some really cool internet “foodie friends” that I’ve connected with along the way and most are women. Some are women I’ve literally never met in person but have been following me since last year and have encouraged me in my journey. If you are a woman, especially a young woman starting out on your journey, I encourage you to always continue to bring yourself back to your “why”. If you start something with the intention of pursuing your passion, then always come back to your passion as a motivator for you. Don’t let looking around at what other people are or aren’t doing, keep you distracted from looking forward at all the many incredible things you can and will accomplish. And always be a woman that uplifts the woman or person next to you.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your work – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
On paper, I guess in short, I’m a food blogger/foodie influencer. And to some degree, I am, but I essentially view myself as a food explorer enthusiast that happens to enjoy taking pictures of her food and sharing them with anyone and everyone, all while highlighting local food spots. I sincerely experience so much joy when I try out a new San Diego food spot whether it be a food truck, a vendor at a local farmer’s market, or a full-blown restaurant and then am able to recommend it to someone else and they also end up trying it out and liking it. I especially love when I get Direct Messages asking me for my insight into the best places to eat in San Diego.
As a foodie brand, I’m currently most proud of the quality of the content that I put out. My personal philosophy behind my content is to put out content that makes the food look beautiful and appetizing. I see a lot of foodie accounts out there that post photos of food, but perhaps are less focused on details that make the food look appetizing such as, the lighting, or the angle of the photo.
I would say that the quality of the photos that I put on Instagram is one of the factors that sets me apart from others. What I think is even more special about the quality of the content that I put out is that although I feel that I put out high-quality photos, I only use an iPhone to take the photos. I don’t have one of those super big expensive cameras that many foodie bloggers use to capture the perfect photo, instead, I utilize my resources and put out the best content that I can with the tools that I already have. To me, using my iPhone helps me maintain a sense of authenticity. While I probably could, and maybe eventually might, invest in a big fancy camera, I like knowing that I can take advantage of what is available to me (currently my iPhone 8+) and produce high-quality content for my own and other people’s viewing pleasure. I do use a filter but I only use one photo editing app so that I don’t over-edit and take away the essence of the food being highlighted in the original photo.
Another way I attempt to maintain authenticity is by using an emoji rating system. I do this less to be snarky and more to keep things real with my followers. If I take a beautiful photo of food that looks look but actually doesn’t taste good, I don’t want to feel that I’m leading people astray. So I use emojis to convey my opinion of the food in order to provide my authentic opinion to what I’m eating.
I’m always looking to work with local businesses that are seeking to collaborate. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly on Instagram or via email.
Additionally, a cool project that I’m working on, in addition to building my content, is putting together a Soul Food Festival for the city of San Diego. I’m very excited about the way this will help build a strong sense of community in San Diego and of course, they provide a platform of exposure for local businesses. This is still in the works but it’s projected to be put on in the summer of 2020.
Do you think there are structural or other barriers impeding the emergence of more female leaders?
I feel that one of the biggest barriers today for female leadership in the social media world, is people not taking us seriously or feeling like because our platform of choice is social media, then we don’t know anything about strategic marketing or things related to business. While I’m not a business expert or even a marketing genius, I know enough of the basics to be able to build, grow, and expand my brand. I think that women in general have a high capacity for anything and everything we might set our minds to, so if that means learning and understanding more about our industry, then I know and believe we are capable of doing so and doing it well. I think that social media has led many to believe that most women use it simply to profit off their looks and/or body and that’s simply not the case. There are some incredible female entrepreneurs out there that have a deep knowledge and understanding of brand building and are utilizing social media to be a lot more than just a simple thirst trap.
Contact Info:
- Email: iamhungry.218@gmail.com
- Instagram: @i__amhungry
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
